1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a developer container (e.g., toner container) equipped with a wireless communication unit, such as a non-contact radio tag (e.g., an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag). The present invention also relates to an image forming apparatus capable of wirelessly communicating with a developer container that is not yet mounted to the image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, a latent image formed on a photosensitive member is developed by using a toner as a developer (developing powder). The image developed by the toner is transferred to a sheet, and the transferred toner image is fixedly formed on the sheet through a fusing process using a heating method, for example.
The toner is consumed each time printing is performed. Typically, the toner is supplied to a user while it is contained in a toner container (also called a toner cartridge, a toner bottle, or a toner pack) which can be mounted to a main body of the image forming apparatus in an easily replaceable manner. Because the toner can be adversely affected by heat, several techniques have been proposed to deal with heat affecting not only the toner container already mounted to the main body of the image forming apparatus, but also the toner container before it is mounted to the apparatus main body.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-263022 proposes a technique of storing, as temperature history information, changes of temperature during transportation and in a storage environment for a period from the production stage of a toner cartridge to delivery to the user, and changing a time for control of toner agitation based on the temperature history information when the toner cartridge is set in an image forming apparatus. That technique is intended to change the agitation time depending on a toner state because a degree of toner condensation differs depending on the toner state during storage.
However, the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-263022 is directed to a toner container already mounted to the image forming apparatus, and it pays no considerations to a not-yet-mounted (spare) toner container which is placed near the image forming apparatus.
Accordingly, even when the spare toner container is prepared near the image forming apparatus, a downtime is generated with the operation of agitating the toner in the toner container and the operation of replenishing the toner to the image forming apparatus when the toner container is replaced.
Further, because the toner melting point has been recently reduced in view of demands for energy saving and a higher throughput of printing, the technique proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-263022 accompanies a problem that the toner may cohere and aggregate before the toner container is mounted to the image forming apparatus. Stated another way, during a period in which the toner container is stored in a warehouse or the like, the toner container is exposed to a high-temperature environment for a long time and the toner therein is apt to cohere and aggregate. In such a case, even when the toner agitation control is performed at the time of mounting the toner container (cartridge) to the image forming apparatus, it may be difficult to restore the toner to a practically usable level.